# Thermoelectric or compressor?



## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

Since my house is never lower than 75 degrees in the summer I've decided to buy a compact refrigerator for my gars. But do I buy a thermoelectric or compressor fridge?


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## salmonfly (Nov 11, 2009)

Suzza said:


> Since my house is never lower than 75 degrees in the summer I've decided to buy a compact refrigerator for my gars. But do I buy a thermoelectric or compressor fridge?


Chris, get a thermoelectric fridge/wine cooler and please do some homework by searching the forum for this stuff Bro! :nod: :nod:


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## guitar7272 (Sep 24, 2008)

salmonfly said:


> Chris, get a thermoelectric fridge/wine cooler and please do some homework by searching the forum for this stuff Bro! :nod: :nod:


+1
I just got a 28 bottle avanti from PC Richards for ~140 w/ free shipping + $35 mail in rebate. The compressor will sap too much humidity out of the air.


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

salmonfly said:


> Chris, get a thermoelectric fridge/wine cooler and please do some homework by searching the forum for this stuff Bro! :nod: :nod:


why a wine cooler and not a fridge?


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## guitar7272 (Sep 24, 2008)

salmonfly said:


> Chris, get a thermoelectric fridge/wine cooler and please do some homework by searching the forum for this stuff Bro! :nod: :nod:





Suzza said:


> why a wine cooler and not a fridge?


I'd imagine it has to do with the built in shelf slots - you can get cedar trays/drawers made for the wine units. Though I haven't looked into the specs on any thermoelectric fridges, it may also have to do with temperature settings as you dont want to cool your gars down to normal food storage/beverage temps; the wine units can be set in the 60s. That being said, where there's a will there's a way.


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## salmonfly (Nov 11, 2009)

Suzza said:


> why a wine cooler and not a fridge?


Chris, this is you homework for the weekend, please have it ready and returned to me by Monday.

You can use for reference Puff Forum for searching for this martial Bro! :nod:


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## salmonfly (Nov 11, 2009)

guitar7272 said:


> I'd imagine it has to do with the built in shelf slots - you can get cedar trays/drawers made for the wine units. Though I haven't looked into the specs on any thermoelectric fridges, it may also have to do with temperature settings as you dont want to cool your gars down to normal food storage/beverage temps; the wine units can be set in the 60s. That being said, where there's a will there's a way.


Scott I will give you a B for the above answers Bro!
But Chris has to do his own homework this weekend. :nod:


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

salmonfly said:


> Scott I will give you a B for the above answers Bro!
> But Chris has to do his own homework this weekend. :nod:


haha i searched for any reason not to use a fridge and the only reasons I could find were not being able to adjust the temperature and not being thermoelectric. Well I've found a few mini fridges that ARE thermoelectric and DO have adjustable thermostats. So the only difference between the mini fridges and a wine cooler is the glass window in front!!!


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## salmonfly (Nov 11, 2009)

Suzza said:


> haha i searched for any reason not to use a fridge and the only reasons I could find were not being able to adjust the temperature and not being thermoelectric. Well I've found a few mini fridges that ARE thermoelectric and DO have adjustable thermostats. So the only difference between the mini fridges and a wine cooler is the glass window in front!!!


Chris you get BIG FAT F for this, please try again! :nod:


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

Whatever I think I'm just gonna buy this:

Danby

Hows it look?


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## guitar7272 (Sep 24, 2008)

salmonfly said:


> Scott I will give you a B for the above answers Bro!
> But Chris has to do his own homework this weekend. :nod:


This is totally like college... pull something out of my ass and hope for the best


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## guitar7272 (Sep 24, 2008)

Suzza said:


> Whatever I think I'm just gonna buy this:
> 
> Danby
> 
> Hows it look?


Have you priced it from anywhere? I stuck with the 28 because you can get the drawers from chasidor.com with relative ease.


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

guitar7272 said:


> Have you priced it from anywhere? I stuck with the 28 because you can get the drawers from chasidor.com with relative ease.


$89.00 at walmart


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## salmonfly (Nov 11, 2009)

Suzza said:


> $89.00 at walmart


Chris with a compressor based fridge, you will/might have to replace the thermostat.

The issue, as understood is this: This is the way a fridge works.
All compressor based fridges will takes/suck the moisture out of the air and cools it. 
This is not what you want as this will lower you're RH every time.

IE not good for your cigars!!!

A Wine cooler is a sealed environment, that moisture/humidity comes directly from for me BEADS 65-65RH.
Most wine coolers are Thermoelectric and has an adjustable thermostat.

This is the easiest way for me to explain it.
The world is your oyster Bro, good luck!!

Here is a link to my Wineador http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/cigar-pictures/270673-my-new-wineador-runth-over-2.html


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## Suzza (Mar 18, 2010)

So then the question is...

Is a *thermoelectric* compact refrigerator with a thermostat just as good as a wine cooler?


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## guitar7272 (Sep 24, 2008)

Suzza said:


> So then the question is...
> 
> Is a *thermoelectric* compact refrigerator with a thermostat just as good as a wine cooler?


If you're satisfied with the capacity and can adjust the thermostat high enough, its basically the same thing.


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## e-man (Jan 5, 2009)

Anything thermo-electric is fine. Just make sure to re-rout the drain so you don't loose moisture

Moisture will condense/freeze to anything cold. Compressors are much more aggressive, as the freon gets MUCH colder than a TE element, and the long copper coils offer more surface area for the moisture to cling to. 

You asked why wine coolers are Thermo-electric. Your fridge needs to run below 40 degrees to stop bacteria, but most wines like to be warmer. A compressor is significantly more complex and expensive. A smaller unit doesn't need as much cooling capacity to maintain. The bigger ones need to use compressors due to the volume and can recover quickly from being opened more often.


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## MrMayorga (Feb 14, 2008)

Point 1) Most refridges have an ice tray where Ice forms. Ice is moisture and not good.

Point 2) If you owned a motorcycle, would you trust your head to a $25.00 helmet?


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## AZlooker (Sep 8, 2009)

I just got a Vinotemp 21 bottle unit and without doing anything to it, I stabilized the temperature and humidity at 65/65. This is a thermoelectric unit with dual controlled zones. Now to put some cedar trays in and see what happens.


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## salmonfly (Nov 11, 2009)

MrMayorga said:


> Point 1) Most refridges have an ice tray where Ice forms. Ice is moisture and not good.
> 
> Point 2) If you owned a motorcycle, would you trust your head to a $25.00 helmet?


Don you get an AA++, I think that I am done here!! layball:


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## ProbateGeek (Oct 13, 2010)

AZlooker said:


> I just got a Vinotemp 21 bottle unit and without doing anything to it, I stabilized the temperature and humidity at 65/65. This is a thermoelectric unit with dual controlled zones. Now to put some cedar trays in and see what happens.


AZ, just wondering how this worked out for you?


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## JustOneMoreStick (Sep 21, 2009)

MrMayorga said:


> Point 2) If you owned a motorcycle, would you trust your head to a $25.00 helmet?


As long as I dont fall off yes. But the way people drive around here I wear my gear all the time every time.

Last time I looked my life didnt depend on my cigars so I have been known to cheap out a little. I have a compressor based wine fridge on a timer set to run 30 min out of every 2 hours and with 4 lbs of kitty litter it recovers in about 5-10 minutes from a drop of about 15% rh.


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## Athion (Jul 17, 2010)

I could be wrong, but I would think a 15% RH swing every hour would be terrible for your cigars... I was told even short term swings of +/- 10% were bad and to be avoided...

My Vino doesnt seem to budge from 66% RH no matter what I do to it (short of leaving the door open for a day or something  )


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## JustOneMoreStick (Sep 21, 2009)

It would be bad If they were loose but since they are all in boxes the cigars themselves dont get much swing like I said it recovers very fast. Besides Cigars are tougher then we give them credit for.


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## MATADOR (Nov 12, 2010)

Do not get a compressor. Stick with a thermoelectric. I had the plessure to deal with a compressor for the past few months trying everything to keep the humidity stable, but nothing. Thermo is the only way to go.


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